The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Special to The Laker/Lutz News

County warns residents to stay away from mosquitoes

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It’s called “drain and cover,” and it’s the Florida Department of Health’s way to emphasize the importance of protecting against mosquito-borne illness.

“Drain and cover” basically is emptying, removing or covering any containers that will allow mosquitoes to develop, said Dennis Moore with the Pasco County Mosquito Control District. By draining standing water, it will stop mosquitoes from multiplying.

Residents also should:

• Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flower pots, or any other containers where sprinkler or rain water has collected.

• Discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances, and other other items that aren’t being used.

• Empty and clean birdbaths and pet water bowls at least once or twice a week.

• Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don’t accumulate water.

• Maintain swimming pools in good condition, and appropriately chlorinate them. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.

• Cover skin with clothing or repellent. Wear shoes, socks and long pants and long sleeves. This type of protection may be necessary for people who must work in areas where mosquitoes are present.

• Apply mosquito repellent to bare skin and clothing, and use mosquito netting to protect children younger than 2 months.

When it comes to using repellents, members of the Pasco County division of the health department suggests people read label directions carefully, since some repellents are not suitable for children.

Products with concentrations of up to 30 percent DEET are generally recommended. Other approved repellents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency including Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535.

Repellent should be applied to exposed skin or onto clothing, but not under clothing.

Residents also should cover doors and windows with screens to keep mosquitoes out of houses.

Those who would like more information on avoiding mosquitoes can call (727) 861-5250, ext. 162, or email .

Tax holiday for Energy Star, WaterSense products

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This weekend might be the perfect time to get that appliance you’ve been waiting for.

This year’s tax holiday on appliances certified by Energy Star or WaterSense begins just after midnight Sept. 19, and run through the end of the day Sept. 21.

During the period, no sales tax or local option taxes will be collected on the first $1,500 of the sales price of a new qualifying Energy Star or WaterSense products. The exemption is limited to a single purchase for each specific type of qualifying item, having a sales of $500 or more. However, there are no limits for items that cost less than $500.

That means savings of up to $105 per item in Pasco and Hillsborough counties.

Energy Star products that are covered under the sales tax holiday include air purifiers, ceiling fans, clothes dryers, clothes washers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, freezers, light bulb packages, refrigerators, room air conditioners, swimming pool pumps and water heaters.

An Energy Star item must be designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy, as meeting or exceeding the requirements under the Energy Star program, and include an Energy Star label.

Qualifying WaterSense products include bathroom sink faucets, faucet accessories, high-efficienciey toilets or urinals, shower heads, and weather- or sensor-based irrigation controller.

A WaterSense item must be recognized as water efficient by the EPA, with a WaterSense label affixed to the product.

The holiday, however, does not apply to rental or repair of any of these items.

SBA introduces new online course for young entrepreneurs … in Spanish

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The Small Business Administration is reaching out to young, Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs with what it’s calling a new tool to determine whether they’re ready for business ownership, and to help get them started.

The free, self-paced online course will be offered in Spanish, giving an overview of basic business principles, and introduce resources available from the U.S. Small Business Administration, according to a release.

“As a proud Hispanic American, I believe that providing financial, educational and technical assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs is a major means to create jobs and stimulate the economy,” said Maria Contreras-Sweet, an SBA administrator, in a release. “The new course is an essential business development tool for young entrepreneurs that can be central to the future success for many generations to come.”

The young entrepreneurs course is designed to help with the essential of starting a small business, including evaluating business ideas, choosing the best financing options and registering a business. The course also includes useful resources that will help with each step along the path to entrepreneurial success.

Hispanics are starting and growing new businesses at nearly twice the rate of the general population, according to Francisco “Pancho” Marrero, the SBA’s South Florida district director. Last year, the SBA lent nearly 3,400 loans, totaling more than $850 million to Hispanic-owned businesses.

The course is accessible from the SBA’s Learning Center, under the banner “Starting a Business.” It’s available at Go.USA.gov/mnFT. It’s also available in English.

SBA has placed more than $3.3 billion in loans to Hispanic business owners between 2009 and 2013, according to a release. This year, SBA’s lending pace already has exceed last year’s volume, attaining a level of more than $857 million.

Tax collector raises $4,000 for traffic safety group

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Yet another focus on a nonprofit has helped raise thousands of dollars from the community.

The Pasco County Tax Collector’s office raised nearly $4,000 for the Florida AAA Traffic Safety Foundation. The fundraising was part of the office’s August promotion, which will be used for life-saving bicycle and automobile equipment, as well as educational training on traffic safety issues.

Through the voluntary automobile registration and renewal check-offs, as well as direct cash donations from the public, the Florida AAA Traffic Safety Foundation will be able to purchase booster seats, bicycle helmets, educational materials, and other important bicycle and vehicle safety devices, according to a release.

“The AAA is one of the most respected organizations in the nation,” said Tax Collector Mike Fasano, in a release. “The funds raised through this promotion will benefit Florida in general, and the resident of Pasco County and surrounding communities, in particular.”

Additionally, the foundation will allow senior citizens to have their vehicles inspected to ensure their safety equipment is functioning properly. The donations made during the promotional event also will help educate children and adults about the dangers of texting and driving, as well as the dangers and penalties that driving while impaired may have on the driver and everyone else in a vehicle.

To learn more about the Florida AAA Traffic Safety Foundation, visit AutoClubSouth.AAA.com. For more information on the Pasco County Tax Collector’s office, visit PascoTaxes.com.

Gas prices fall in Zephyrhills, Dade City

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Gas prices have now dropped for six weeks in a row. And those prices could fall even lower yet, especially after the price of oil is at its lowest point since May 2013.

“Motorists should continue to see a discount at the pump,” said AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins, in a release. “High domestic oil supplies, a decrease in global demand, and the easing of geopolitical tensions in Libya and Iraq are keeping downward pressure on gasoline prices.”

Beginning Monday, refineries will no longer need to sell summer-blend gasoline, Jenkins said. Winter-blend is cheaper to produce, which will help push prices even lower in the coming months.

The price for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel in Florida was $3.32 on Sunday, compared to $3.36 a week ago. That’s down 16 cents a gallon from a year ago.

The price for a barrel of oil settled at $92.27 on Friday, down a little more than a dollar from the previous week. It’s at its cheapest level in four months.

The price drop came as the International Energy Agency decreased its 2015 oil demand forecast late last week, where it estimated that global demand will rise just 1.3 percent next year.

“The bottom fell out of oil prices this week,” Jenkins said. “U.S. domestic oil production is set to hit a 45-year high by next year. Barring a major weather event in the Gulf, or overseas geopolitical tensions, we should continue to see oil prices fall.”

In Zephyrhills, gas is cheaper than most other places in the county, with six gas stations checking in at $3.15. Yet, the Citgo at Gall Boulevard and Chancey Road reported prices of $3.34. Dade City saw a range of $3.15 at the RaceWay on U.S. 301 and McDonald Road, to $3.29 at a BP station at the U.S. 98 Bypass.

Four locations in Land O’ Lakes offered gas at $3.19 on Sunday, according to GasBuddy.com. They included the RaceTrac on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Lake Patience Road and on State Road 52 near Silver Palm Boulevard, as well as the Citgo station on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Lake Patience Road as well, and the Mobil station on State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway.

The most expensive reported was $3.30 at a Sunoco station on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard near Causeway Boulevard.

In Lutz, gas prices Sunday ranged from $3.21 at the Circle K on Van Dyke and Old Tobacco roads, to $3.39 at two Shell stations near Van Dyke.

Wesley Chapel prices were the lowest at Sam’s Club at State Road 56 near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard at $3.16, and reportedly the most expensive at a Shell station nearby, where gas sold for $3.29.

Expect some lane closures on Veterans, Suncoast

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For the first time in weeks, drivers along the Veterans Expressway won’t have to worry about lane closures between Linebaugh Avenue and Gunn Highway.

But go a little further south, and construction crews will need a little extra space.

Waters Avenue, in the area underneath the Veterans overpass there, will be closed completely between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. beginning Sept. 14, and running through that following Thursday. While the Veterans itself won’t be closed, it could create some traffic congestion in that area, according to an alert from the Florida Department of Transportation.

There will be some single inside-lane closures on the northbound portion of the road during those same times between Memorial Highway and Waters while workers remove a temporary barrier wall.

Overall, construction will take place between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Fridays, with additional work overnight. Motorists should be alert for construction vehicles entering and exiting the roadway, although no daytime lane closures are currently scheduled.

There will be general lane closures Sunday through Friday from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., on the stretch of Veterans between Gunn and Dale Mabry highways. A full southbound off-ramp closure at Gunn will continue through Sept. 19, with detours using Ehrlich Road to Gunn Highway, near Westfield Citrus Park.

Hutchison Road will have a full northbound on-ramp closure beginning at 7 a.m. Sept. 13, and running through 5 p.m. that Sunday, for demolition of the old tollbooth there. The road also will have a full southbound off-ramp closure between Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 for that tollbooth demolition.

Although work continues to demolish the old toll plaza at Sugarwood, there are no lane closures expected.

The work is all a part of the $386 million improvement project that widens 11 miles of the Veterans, expected to double the capacity of the highway from four lanes to eight.

Milling and resurfacing has begun on the Suncoast Parkway in the Lutz area, with single-lane closures northbound running from 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Sept. 17-19, and southbound from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sept. 15-16.

That $3.4 million project includes resurfacing and signage between mileposts 14 and 18. 

‘Novel’ treats at this year’s Halloween Howl

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Halloween is all about tricks and treats, but treats don’t always have to be candy corn, lollipops and chocolate bars.

This year’s annual Main Street Zephyrhills Halloween Howl on Fifth Avenue will give out what organizers are calling a “novel” treat … an actual novel.

As part of a local reading initiative started by Bee Bully-Free, hundreds of free books will be given away in front of the Goin’ Postal location during Halloween Howl, set for Oct. 25 from 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., in downtown Zephyrhills.

The Bee Bully-Free mascot, Smurphy, will be on hand as well. Smurphy is described as a “good kind of bully,” an English bulldog, that is.

The idea to give out books during Halloween came from the son of Bee Bully-Free founder M.J. Price, Bodhi Price. The 7-year-old read 254 books over the summer to help overcome a learning challenge.

Halloween Howl is free, although a Hair-Raising Hayride will be available for $2.

For more information, call Main Street Zephyrhills at (813) 780-1414, or visit MainStreetZephyrhills.org.

Super snacks coming to select Pasco schools

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Pasco County is getting the chance to test a new after-school meals pilot program with the new offering of a “super snack” at select schools in the district.

A component of the Child Care Food program, it’s designed to provide nutritious snacks and meals to children in after-school programs. It’s funded through the U.S. Department of Health — unlike the school meal program, which is done with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

While the new “super snack” program is primarily same as the existing snack program, the select schools will now be able to offer five components for a snack, instead of two, according to a release. That’s because schools and the district’s food and nutrition department felt that the smaller snack was not enough for many of the kids at schools where more than half the students already receive free or reduced lunches.

Those who can participate in the snack program must be enrolled in an approved after-school or extended-day program. Snacks are available at no separate charge to children at the following sites:

• Anclote High School, 1540 Sweetbriar Drive, Holiday
• Cox Elementary School, 37615 Martin Luther King Blvd., Dade City
• Crews Lake Middle School, 15144 Shady Hills Road, Spring Hill
• Gulf Middle School, 6419 Louisiana Ave., New Port Richey
• Gulfside Elementary School, 2329 Anclote Blvd., Holiday
• Hudson Middle School, 14540 Cobra Way, Hudson
• Lacoochee Elementary School, 38815 Cummer Road, Dade City
• Pasco High School, 36850 State Road 52, Dade City
• Smith Middle School, 1410 Sweetbriar Drive, Holiday
• Stewart Middle School, 38505 10th Ave., Zephyrhills
• Taylor Elementary School, 3638 Morris Bridge Road, Zephyrhills
• Woodland Elementary School, 38203 Henry Drive, Zephyrhills

Economy still plagues Floridians, but politics in way

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The biggest issue facing Floridians today is the economy. And the biggest obstacle to fixing that is government partisanship.

Those were the primary findings of this year’s Sunshine State Survey, a collaboration between the University of South Florida and the A.C. Nielsen Co. It’s based on 1,875 telephone interviews conducted between July 30 and Aug. 15, compiling a random sample of adults 18 and older who reside in Florida.

Formerly known as the Leadership Florida survey, these are the first results released since USF and Land O’ Lakes native Susan MacManus took over the process earlier this year. Of those surveyed, 30 percent said the biggest issue facing Florida right now is everything involved in the economy, including jobs and unemployment. Well behind it, at 12 percent, was public schools and education, with crime and immigration tied at 5 percent.

However, while the concern about the economy may seem high, it’s down significantly from the 44 percent it scored during the 2012 Leadership Florida survey, which pollsters says reflects the state’s gradual economic recovery from the Great Recession.

But how should lawmakers address those issues? The first thing might be for politicians to stop fighting based on which political party they belong to. The poll shows that 28 percent feel the battle between Democrats and Republicans represents the biggest stumbling block to achieving Florida’s goals. The divide between elected officials and their constituents was cited by 17 percent of those surveyed, while the divide between rich and poor was the main issue for 16 percent.

The survey showed that 45 percent of those polled believe politics is creating the largest roadblock to progress in the state, more than race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, or even citizenship status.

A telephone sample of 120,000 listings was randomly drawn from, and did not include known businesses, cell phones, or numbers listed on the Do Not Call registry. It has a sampling error of plus-2.2 percentage points.

For more information on the survey, and other results, visit SunshineStateSurvey.org.

 

Pasco historian publishing new book on Dade City

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The Historic Pasco County Courthouse will be the backdrop for a book-signing event featuring local writer Madonna Jervis Wise on Oct. 4.

Wise has released her latest book, “Images of America: Dade City,” which will be released by Arcadia Publishing in September. The book features more than 200 photos and images throughout the 150-year history of Dade City.

Several people and historians who helped Wise on the book will speak at the event, which starts at 1 p.m. at the courthouse, 37918 Meridian Ave., in Dade City. They include Pasco County commissioner Pat Mulieri, Dade City councilman Scott Black, Trilby historian Angelo Liranzo, and Tampa Bay History Center founding board chairman J. Thomas Touchton.

Those attending will then be invited inside the courthouse for the cook signing in the commission chambers on the second floor, which will last until 4 p.m.

“Dade City is the historical hub of Pasco County history,” Wise said, in a release. “Oh, the stories. The book provides glimpses of institutions that have shaped history. This project gave me an opportunity to connect and learn from some of my favorite people.”

Wise has authored several books, including a comprehensive historical book on Zephyrhills. She also wrote “Sam & Company” and co-authored “Kachina and the Bully.”

Her Dade City book has been endorsed by the Historic Preservation Advisory Board of Dade City.

“I think the historic Dade City courthouse is the perfect backdrop to hold this event,” Mulieri said, in a release. “Many of the people and history described in this book have walked through the halls of the historic Dade City courthouse, and to have a book-signing event there is a fitting way to remember Dade City and its great history.”

Arcadia Publishing specializes in publishing books dealing with local and regional history in the United States. Its mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places, and have published more than 8,500 small towns and downtowns.